Colorado corrections officials are asking lawmakers for $1 million a year to finance a fugitive unit to hunt down parolee absconders, who are fleeing supervision at an increasing rate.

In the past two years, nearly 3,500 parolees have absconded from supervision, and many go on to commit new crimes, according to documents in support of the budget request submitted by the Colorado Department of Corrections to top legislators.

About 21 percent of those who absconded in 2011 and 14 percent of those fleeing in 2012 already have been apprehended for new crimes, data show.

The Joint Budget Committee, which sets funding priorities for the legislature, will consider whether to fund the fugitive unit. If approved by the committee, the request won't need final approval from other lawmakers because Gov. John Hickenlooper's administration is forwarding the proposal as an emergency supplemental request.

If approved, an annual appropriation beginning at $1 million would pay for a new supervisor, nine parole officers and training and equipment.

Sen. Pat Steadman, chairman of the JBC, said he expects the request will be approved, though he hasn't polled all the committee members.

"We're all aware of the attention and priority around these issues," said Steadman, a Democrat from Denver. "I'm planning on supporting the request."

Colorado historically has not provided specific funding for efforts to apprehend absconders, which means parole officers end up trying to locate them on an ad-hoc basis, according to the request for funding. Periodically, parole officers, working overtime, have conducted roundups with the assistance of local law enforcement.

But such efforts are "temporary and cannot be sustained over time because officers must fulfill their other duties," the budget request states. "By having a full-time unit of officers devoted to this task, it allows existing parole officers to devote their time and attention on a more sustained basis to other issues of great importance."

The fugitive unit would free up parole officers to do a better job of responding to electronic-monitoring alarms and violations of conditions of supervision, according to the request.

The unit also would take pressure off parole officers so they could learn "skills and management tools that will enable them to work more effectively with offenders to reduce the number that abscond supervision in the first place," according to the document.

Heavy caseloads have been a problem for the department, with just over 200 parole officers handling nearly 10,000 parolees. After Clements' killing, officials dedicated $273,000 of existing funds to pay officer overtime for absconder roundups. The new request, however, would increase the department's budget.

Law enforcement officials suspect Evan Ebel, a parolee who absconded in March, killed pizza delivery driver Nathan Leon on March 17 and Clements on March 19. Authorities have said it took five days after Ebel removed his electronic monitoring bracelet from his ankle on March 14 for his parole officer to visit Ebel's Commerce City home and six days for a warrant to be issued for his arrest. Ebel was fatally wounded in a shootout with Texas officials March 21.

Corrections officials have since tightened guidelines for how parole officers respond to parolees suspected of fleeing supervision. The new rules now require a parole officer to visit the home of a parolee with an electronic monitoring tamper alert within two hours after the tamper alert occurs.

An arrest warrant now must be issued within 24 hours if probable cause is found that the parolee absconded.

Of those who absconded from parole in the past two years, nearly 70 percent were considered high risk based on supervision assessment scores, corrections data shows. Nearly 80 percent of those absconding through 2011 and 2012 had been convicted of a violent crime in the past, and 11 percent had sex-offender problems. About 30 percent had gang affiliations.

As of April 30, 666 of the 9,486 individuals under parole supervision in Colorado were on absconder status. Corrections officials project the fugitive unit would help reduce that percentage by a quarter by the end of the next fiscal year.

Colorado corrections officials say they are modeling the plan after similar initiatives in California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York and Washington.

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